It followed me home!
by Opal Amari
Summary: It was another miserable Monday. I was hurrying to first period in school, already late, when suddenly, I found out I was being pursued by a Pokemon!!! What is it, and where did it come from? R/R Pleasy!!!
1. There's a Chikorita in my locker

                                                **It Followed Me Home!**

It was another dreary Monday morning at 6:30, but I was already up and dressed. That was something I have rarely ever been. What could have compelled me, of all people, to wake up so early and be ready ahead of time? 

"Go, Erik!" 

The answer was my trusty, lime-green Game Boy and my good old Pokemon Silver game, a birthday present from two years ago. I had been shifting through the boxes in our garage during the weekend gone by and came upon a box of old Pokemon things that my dad had thrown in during last year's spring-cleaning. In addition to my big Mew toy, my little BK Mew toy, my Golbat BK plush, and other various Pokemon things, I found my long lost Silver game and Game Boy. But since it was late, I couldn't play it, so I forced myself to wake up early to play. So there I was, sending my Chikorita, Erik, out to replace my Charmeleon, who I was trying to level up.

_            Onix was defeated! Erik gained 400 Exp.!!_

"Yes! No Onix can stand up to a Chikorita!!!"

_What? Erik is evolving!!!_

"Aaack!! No!! Un-evolve! Un-evolve!" I cried, frantically pressing the B button.

_Huh? Erik stopped evolving!!!_

"Phew," I sighed, relieved that my Level-49 (at the time) Chikorita didn't evolve. Erik was my very first Silver Pokemon (duh). Call me crazy, but I never wanted him to evolve. He was so precious and cute to me that I liked him just the way he was. Even if he's not a high leveled as my Noctowl, Golem, and Ampharos, he's still my prized Pokemon. 

I turned back to my game, ready to send Charmer (my Charmeleon) back out again when my Game Boy was whisked out of my hand. "Hey!" I cried.

"Hanni, I've called you three times!!!" My mother scolded, holding my un-saved game in her hand. "You've missed breakfast and you've missed the bus!!!"

Yelping, I jumped off my bed and ran to the door. "Come on, Mom, to the car! If we hurry, we can still make it on time!"

"Oh no!" My mom growled. "I have to get your brother and sister off to school too. You're going to have to walk!" 

Several minutes later, I was on my way to school. [(A/n) My school is too far for me to walk to IRL, but this is fiction. Most of it, anyway. Onward…] Fortunately, it wasn't that cold, but I was frigid in knowing that I was going to be late. I was rarely late, and was trying to set my own record for going the longest time without being late. I hadn't even broken my old record, and already I ruined my new one.

I finally reached school with a stuffy nose and an unexcused late pass. Muttering angrily to myself, I forced my frozen legs to walk down the empty hallway connecting the two school buildings. I was halfway through when I heard a scratching sound. At first, I thought it was my backpack straps shuffling against my jacket, but the scratching was sharper. I turned towards the sound and followed it to a door. Seeing as to how I was already late, I couldn't get into any more trouble, so I shrugged and opened the door.

I was suddenly bowled over by something hitting my waist. It knocked the wind out of my and I fell to the floor. The door slammed shut. Something was attached to my stomach and was nuzzling me affectionately. Raising my head with great effort, I saw a little, light green, pear shaped body with four legs and a tail chirping happily on my stomach. A ring of small, seed-like spheres encircled its neck, and a huge leaf was growing out of its head. And all it said was…

"Ch-Chikorita?!?"

"Chiko!" the thing that could only be a Chikorita chirruped happily. At the moment, only two things came to mind.

One: there was a Chikorita on me.

Two: there was a Chikorita on me at school.

I frantically scanned the hallway. Was someone coming? What if someone saw me with a Chikorita? A Pokemon? The kids at my high school were VERY prejudice of Pokemon. If you liked Pokemon, you were classified as an all time GEEK. Not only would this title last with you forever, but also kids would torture you, mock you, and throw things at you, and everything like that. Those kids that admitted they liked Pokemon, even if they were proud of it, couldn't stand to that torment for long. If you liked Pokemon, it would be best not to make a deal out of it at my school. And much to my horror, I saw a person step right out from behind the corner. With me and the Chikorita in plain sight.

I was VERY lucky. My best friend, Nirejseki, rounded the corner. Fortunately for me, she liked Pokemon too. "Hey, Hanni! What's- HOLY SLYTHERIN!!" She cried when she saw the little green Chikorita in my hands. [(A/n again: Nirejseki doesn't actually go to my school. We don't even live in the same town, but we're still best friends.] 

"Shhhhhhh!!!" I hissed, worrying that someone would hear and investigate. I managed to get up off the floor, and the Chikorita curled up in my arms. "Do you want to attract attention?"

"Don't you remember what kids are like here?" Nirejseki whispered. "You know how they are about Poke-"

"Shhh!" I cut her off. "I know, but what am I going to do?"

"Well, where did it come from?" she asked.

"I don't know! I opened that door and it attacked me!"

"Hmmm…" She thought for a while. Nirejseki was always good in getting us out of predicaments. Finally, she spoke. "Well, we could hide it in your locker for now, and after school, I'll go to your house and we'll figure this -" she froze. Footsteps could be heard down the hall. Quickly, Nirejseki grabbed the Chikorita and curled its legs and tail into its body, and then turned it so that its back was facing out. "Don't move," she muttered to it. "Please, don't make any noise either," I whispered, just as a group of girls passed by. Three cheerleader snobs, of course, and one of my friends from my lunch table, Cindy. 

"Oh, hi, Hanni! Hi Nirejseki!" Cindy called to us, waving. To my horror, they came over to us.

"Wow, like, what's that?" One of the cheerleaders asked, pointing.

"It's… it's a…" I stuttered.

"Pear," Nirejseki excused. "It's a pear."

"Yeah, it's my lunch."

"It's, like, pretty big for, like, you know, a pear," another cheerleader nagged.

"It's been genetically engineered and grown with special growth hormones," Nirejseki and I said at almost the same time. Chikorita squirmed a little.

"It, like, moved!" The last cheerleader squealed. The other two made funny squeaking noises. "Maybe it's alive!"

"Yeah, that's what growth hormones will do," I replied. It was hard to keep a straight face. Fortunately for me, these cheerleaders weren't too bright. Unfortunately, Cindy was.

"I dunno," she mused. "It looks pretty furry to me."

"Maybe it was a cross-breed of a pear and a peach," Nirejseki said crossly. "Look, we're late for class as it is. So we're going now. Nice talking to you." And she pushed me and my over-sized "pear" away from the group. Once we were out of earshot, we both burst out laughing. The Chikorita unraveled itself and laughed along with us, even though I'm sure it had no idea what was so funny.

"What were you thinking, calling it a pear?" I laughed.

"It was the first thing that came to mind!" Nirejseki choked. "Besides, it _does_ look like a pear when it's like that!"

We giggled for a few more minutes before heading to our lockers, which were parallel to each other. I looked at the Chikorita. "Okay, I don't know where you came from, but I can't leave you out here. You'll be massacred." So I made a little bed out of my jacket at the bottom of my locker and placed the Chikorita there. "You know," I said to Nirejseki, "it looks kinda like my Erik in Silver."

"Really?" she said, looking over my shoulder. "It looks like all Chikoritas to me."

"Well, I'm going to name him Erik anyway," I said, petting the Pokemon on its dark green leaf. "Okay, just stay here and don't destroy anything," I told him. "I'll check on you every few hours. Just sleep, okay?" The Chikorita – Erik – smiled and gave me a reassuring "Chik!" I grinned back and closed my locker. It would be alright in there for now. As long as no one at school found out, the both of us would be safe. I twisted the dial and me and Nirejseki raced to our first period class. After school, everything would be alright.

(A/n) None of the characters, save for me, Nirejseki, and my Pokemon in Silver, are real. Not even the cheerleaders, thank the heavens.


	2. Now there's a Chikorita at my house!

(A/n) Okay, I made it to chapter two!!! *is winded* Now I just want to make a quick address to my lovely and wonderful readers! I just want to say that IRL, my locker is pretty roomy (it really is, compared to the lockers in the new wing, which are a bit wider than my arm, and I'm not kidding). Plus, it's littered with papers and book socks, and it has vents, so the Chikorita could survive for 6 ½ hours. Besides, it's only fiction! Good ole fiction. Kept me alive in '98, it did. And I'll stop with the Authors notes in the story; I just put them there to clarify on certain things. And yes, Nirejseki, you can use "HOLY SLYTHERIN!!!" IRL, though you may find yourself gagged before long ^_^. Happy Reading, and jolly good days to you all!!!

                                                **It Followed Me Home!!!**

                                                            Chapter 2 

            The first part of school was crappy. I got a cut slip in first period art for having an inexcusable late. The rest of art wasn't so bad, but I had to face Gym afterwards. And after a pointless game of "Krazy Kickball" (in which I got beaned in the head – twice), I forced my aching self up the stairs to my locker, but the hallways were too crowded. Not wanting to risk the chance of letting the Chikorita, Erik, be seen, I went to Science without my book. Having reached the class, I managed to get away with not having my book. But then I nearly fell asleep during my teacher's boring lecture, and was chided for that. 

After two more periods of heck, Lunch made its cavalry-like entrance. Go Lunch! And since you couldn't be late for lunch, I waited for the halls to be nearly devoid of kids, then raced to my locker, shielding the view from anyone around. But when I opened my locker, I found Erik chewing on the remains of my paper bag lunch. How he managed to reach it from the top shelf, I'll never know, but my two sandwiches were nothing more than crumbs and crust. And my jacket was soaked with Capri Sun. Groaning, I grabbed my fortunately unsoiled books and raced to the cafeteria.

"Hey Hanni," Nirejseki cheerfully grinned as I slid into my seat. "Where's your lunch?" I threw her an Evil Glare of Death™ and muttered, "He ate it."

"He?" she asked, puzzled. Then her eyes widened understandingly. "O-o-o-o-h… _him_…" And she passed me her bag of carrot sticks. I tore at them like a beaver at a tree (having missed breakfast that morning). During my carrot-killing frenzy, Cindy and our other friends, Rose and Alice, sat down at our table with their lunches. "Hey guys!" Alice giggled. She always giggles. Rose also grinned, but Cindy just looked at me and the bits of carrot strew across the table. 

"What happened to the, uh… giant pear thing?" 

I slowly chewed the bits of carrots in my mouth, my brain scrambling for an explanation. "I… ate…it. Yeah, I ate it already." 

"Did you miss breakfast again?" Nirejseki questioned, playing along, and winking at me so that the others couldn't see. "Yeah. Good thing the pear was so big!" I replied, forcing a laugh. Nirejseki fake-laughed too. Cindy looked at me strangely, and Rose and Alice had no clue what was going on. Then the three of them sat down and immersed in a conversation; I don't know what it was about, but there was a lot of giggling and pointing. Nirejseki resumed eating her lunch, but not before sliding a note across the table to me. I picked it up and opened it. It was pretty simple:

HmB- I have an idea about how to get the pear project home. Meet me in the first floor bathroom after the last bell. DON'T TAKE THE BUS!!!                                                                                                                                                 -NI  

            I nodded back at her and resumed devouring the carrots like a merciless Houndour. 

*************************

            I never figured out how I survived the last three periods of the day, but I did. After the last bell, I sidled into the first floor bathroom, hoping I didn't look _too_ conspicuous. Nirejseki wasn't there yet, so I took up pacing. Every girl coming into the bathroom just stared at me, then did her business and left. 

Finally, Nirejseki arrived, carrying a large tote bag. "Where'd you get that?" I asked her. She grinned knowingly. "It's the bag I use to carry my books around in the halls," she informed me. "So you're carrying the books in your bag, and I'm taking the "pear project" in this bag." Pear project? Oh, Erik. We couldn't be heard saying "Chikorita" or "Pokemon" in the school, unless we had a death wish. "Okay, let's go then," I said. 

We dashed up to the second floor and ran to my locker. While Nirejseki kept watch, I frantically twisted the dial, eager to get out of there A.S.A.P. Opening the locker, I saw Erik asleep in my jacket, but he awoke as soon as my shadow passed over him. "Rita!" he chirped happily. "Shhhhh!!!' I hushed, gathering him up in my soggy jacket and gently (but quickly) stuffing the both of them into the tote bag. I handed the load carefully over to Nirejseki, and then loaded up my backpack with the books we would need for homework. Slamming my locker shut, I nodded to my friend, and we took off down the hallway, with Nirejseki carrying my Chikorita. 

 *************************

Miraculously, we got home. Alive. No one we met gave us a second glance in the hallways, and there were barely any people on the way home. Boy, was I glad to be home! I mean, _you_ try lugging a backpack with two sets of books all the way home!

            As soon as we set foot in the house, we threw off our backpacks and raced up to my room. As soon as I slammed and locked the door, Nirejseki let Erik out of the bag. He frolicked happily around the room, sniffing curiously at my stuff, especially my Charmander plushie. Nirejseki and I sat on the floor, relieved to be able to relax. For a few minutes, we watched Erik attempt to talk to the Charmander plushie. Apparently he thought it was real (though I can't see how. I mean, it's a furry Charmander!) and was trying to talk to it. When Charmer didn't respond, Erik got mad and challenged him to a battle. Nirejseki and I cracked up as the Chikorita tackled the plushie. "No! No! Don't!" I cried as Erik started ripping off one of Charmer's arms. I pulled the plushie away and put it on my dresser.

            "Okay," Nirejseki said, standing up. "Let's find out why the Chikor- I mean Erik- is here." 

            "Fine," I said, picking up Erik. "What do we do?"

            "First, we look for clues," she replied, pacing around the room. "First off, where are you're Pokemon things?"

            "In the garage, in a box."

            "Do you have any Chikorita plushies that I don't know about?"

            "No! Even if I did, it would be in the box."

            "Hmmmmm…" Nirejseki looked over to an empty shelf, which once held its weight in Pokemon stuff. Now it was empty. "Where are your Pokemon games?" she asked.

            "Also in… well, actually, I _was_ playing my Silver game this morning…"

            Nirejseki turned to me. "Really?"

            "Yeah. Well, I mean, I know that Chikoritas are from Silver and all, but this doesn't explain why there is one chewing on my sheets… No! Erik, stop!" I pulled the Chikorita off my sheets, where he chewed a sizable hole.

            "So where's your game now?" Nirejseki asked.

            "I dunno, my mom took it this morning and…" I stopped suddenly. Erik looked up at me quizzically. Without warning, I dropped him on to my bed, unlocked my door and hollered out, "MOOOOOOM!!!" 

            "Hanni, don't scream!! What is it?" my mother called from downstairs.

            "What did you do with my GameBoy after you took it away this morning?" I called a little more quietly.

            "Well, I had to warm up soup for your sister, so I put it on top of the microwave while the soup was heating up."

            "Did you turn the game off, by any chance?" I called meekly, remembering not saving or shutting off.

            "I don't think so…" 

            "Great," I said to Nirejseki. "That could explain some things." Calling back to my mother, I said, "Where is it now?"

            "I hid it. You're not getting it back until tomorrow after school, if you catch the bus."

            I slumped down to the floor. "Great. How am I going to explain to my mom why there's a Pokemon in my room?" Nirejseki patted my head sympathetically. "Don't worry," she said. "I have an idea as to how we'll get him back into your game. As long as you make it on time to the bus tomorrow, and manage to keep Erik at home, you'll be fine." Erik plodded up to me and licked my cheek softly. "Chiko, Chikorita, chik!" he chirped, smiling. I grinned back weakly and patted his leaf. Nirejseki was right. If all went well, we'd be able to get Erik back into the Silver game, and it would all be good. At least, I hoped…

(A/n) Well, that was fun! BTW, _HmB_ and _NI_ are fake code names. That's right, fake. Don't think of the pink elephant. The next chapter will be harder to write though… I better go bribe my muse. Oh Coltrane! Coltie dear….


End file.
